


Waiting on the Bus in the Rain in the Rain

by facelessoldwoman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: College AU, M/M, meet cute, rainy day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 13:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2774222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/facelessoldwoman/pseuds/facelessoldwoman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>http://endingthemes.tumblr.com/post/99943517601/ninemoons42-textsfromtitanfood-consider-the</p><p>"accidentally fell in your lap while standing on this crowded bus" au</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting on the Bus in the Rain in the Rain

The bus that orbits slowly around the main campus is never more crowded than on a cold rainy day. The bus is packed with cold, damp, desperate people; their breath fogs up the windows and makes everything clammy and unpleasant. So it was on the third consecutive all-day soaker this week.

Nobody wants to wait for the guy in the wheelchair to be loaded in the bus, but Charles would be damned if he was going to muck about in freezing puddles on his way to class just for the sake of their convenience. Raven understood. Even without dipping into her mind he always knew that she understood. She stood with him, holding the umbrella for both of them, and calling out in her loudest voice to tell everyone to make way. When people groaned at the sight of a person in a wheelchair getting loaded onto the already crowded bus she told them to piss off and make room. _Bless her_.

Still, crowded bus rides in the rain are unpleasant under the best of circumstances so Charles gritted his teeth and tried to clear his mind of all the ever-present voices that surrounded him. Raven was sitting up front flirting with the bus driver, probably because she suspected that she could bum a smoke off of him. The bus driver certainly didn’t seem to mind.

Charles was knocked from his complacency by a large thud on his lap. A tall, lanky, broad shouldered man fell right into his chair, like a tree falling down in the forest.

“ _Damn!_ ” the man said, bracing himself against Charles as he tried to regain his bearings on the bumpy bus ride. His long fingers gripped strongly but he tried as hard as he could not to dig his fingers cruelly. Charles could see the tendons and veins in the man’s neck, and hear him breathing quickly as he recovered from being startled. Charles hadn’t been this close to another man since his senior prom.

“Don’t worry,” Charles laughed, “I’ve got you.”

“ _I had to land on the guy in the wheelchair_ ,” the man fumed, then he looked at Charles and said, “I didn’t mean it like that, I just can’t believe I was so terribly clumsy. Did I hurt you? I can be an absolute brute if I’m not careful.”

“I didn’t feel a thing,” Charles said.

“Oh thank goodness,” the man said, patting Charles on the shoulder. Then he did a double-take at Charles, “Oh.”

“It’s an easy joke, old friend,” Charles said. The way the man blushed made Charles feel his closeness even more. His eyes were intense in a way that would drive most people away, but Charles could see more there, so much more. It drove Charles wild trying to keep up the pretense that he should not read the man’s mind, especially when the man was projecting so strongly. Charles longed more than anything to know more, even just a little bit more.

“Erik Lehnsherr,” the man said, giving a name to the face. 

“ _It’s like you read my mind_ ,” Charles projected telepathically. The look of shock on Erik’s face made the cheap trick feel so very worth it. Still, to be polite, he added aloud, “My name is Charles Xavier.” 

“Nice to meet you, old friend,” Erik said, he stood up and brushed off his coat to a more dignified drape.  “Where were you planning on getting off?”

“Biology lab,” Charles said.

“You just missed it I’m afraid,” Erik said.

“But Raven,” Charles said, his eyes panicked.

“Your little blonde friend tried to catch your eyes before she left. I believe that she assumed that you were otherwise occupied?” Erik asked.

“It would seem so,” Charles said. Now his cheeks were red, he would never allow himself to get so distracted normally. He imagined trying to get through the crowds on the sidewalk to get past two or three stops worth of distance in the rain to get to the Biology Lab _. What was Raven thinking? Why would she leave him here?_

“I’ve missed my stop back there as well, Physics Lab,” Erik said, “Ride with me. We’ll catch it on the next go round, together.”

Charles’s heart skipped a beat. He could imagine no better twist of fate than to have another go around with Erik; in this life or the next, in a million parallel universes where they drew together like magnetic charges, no matter the circumstances- always finding a way to come together.

“I would like that very much,” Charles said aloud. _Bless you Raven_ , he added to himself.


End file.
